Kona Sutra LTD vs Salsa Cutthroat
Both published charts held against each other, on the specs that decide what the bike carries.
The short answer
The Sutra LTD takes price; the Cutthroat takes frame bag space, tire clearance, the rack path and bottle positions. Which matters more is your route, not a scoreboard.
Assembled from the differences below rather than written over them, so it cannot drift from the table. Every figure is the manufacturer's; nobody here has ridden either bike.
Where they differ
5 of the 7 things we can compare come out differently. The rest are close enough not to decide anything.
Frame bag space
117 cm² more on the CutthroatFront-triangle area at the largest size, computed from stack, reach and seat angle. It is what decides how much full-frame bag you can run, and a frame bag is the one place weight sits low and central.
Widest published tire
4mm more on the CutthroatThe frame figure, not the fork's — forks are routinely cut for more rubber than the rear triangle. Loaded, tire width is also seat-pack clearance: a big tire and a sagging pack compete for the same space.
Rear rack
Cutthroat is the one you can bolt a rack to without hunting for partsRead from each maker's own mount wording. An adapter is a real cost the price tag does not mention, and 'not published' is not the same as no — it just is not something to buy a rack on.
Frame bottle positions
1 more on the CutthroatThe maximum the maker publishes across sizes. Worth knowing before you buy a frame bag, because a full-frame bag covers most of them.
From
$1,300 between themManufacturer's cheapest complete build. Every spec above belongs to the frame and does not change between builds of the same model, so the cheapest build of the right frame is usually the right answer.
Side by side
Including the rows where the two are level, because a spec that doesn't separate them is still a spec you might be checking.
| Kona Sutra LTD | Salsa Cutthroat | |
|---|---|---|
| Frame bag space | 1564 cm² | 1681 cm² |
| Widest published tire | 57mm on 700c / 29in | 61mm on 700c / 29in |
| Rear rack | Not published | Needs an extra part — Rack-Lock seatpost collar |
| Fork cargo mounts | Published | Published |
| Frame bottle positions | 2 | 3 |
| Chainstay | 445mm | 445mm |
| From | $2,299 | $3,599 |
| Sizes | 6 | 5 |
| Frame | Kona Cromoly Butted | Cutthroat Carbon |
Drawn to scale
Largest published size of each, built from the charts rather than illustrated. The front triangle is the part that decides frame bag fit.
